


Of Fusions and Rainbows

by aperfectpearl (dimensionhoppingrose)



Series: Her Son, My Son [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Pearl Is A Mom, Post-Episode s05e29-32 Change Your Mind, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 08:52:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17804936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/aperfectpearl
Summary: Pearl and Steven have a surprisingly candid discussion about the past, and Rainbow Quartz -Post Change Your Mind-





	Of Fusions and Rainbows

**Author's Note:**

> I just have a LOT of feels about Pearl and Steven and their relationship, okay? Mama Bird loves her little boy.

“Man, you guys are nerds,” Amethyst teased as Garnet and Steven unfused.

“You’re just jealous,” Garnet said, adjusting her visor and smirking.

“Of your walking PSA fusion? No way.” Amethyst tossed the rest of the ice cream cone back and jumped up. “Come on, Steven, let’s show ‘em how it’s really done.”

“We can show off Smoky later,” Steven said, laughing. “We’re supposed to be learning about the new fusions today, remember?”

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.” Amethyst flopped back onto the sand, sighing dramatically. “Bring on Rainbow Pun two point oh.” She smirked, waiting for Pearl’s inevitable annoyance… then frowned when it didn’t come. Steven scanned the gathered group quickly, confused — Garnet, Amethyst, Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot.

“Where’d Pearl go?”

Everyone else looked around as well. “She was here when we started,” Bismuth said. “When’d she disappear?”

“And since when does Pearl ditch training?” Amethyst added, sitting up. “That jacket is turning her into a real rebel. Oh, well. Who wants to try next? Lapis, show us whatcha got.”

“Pass,” Lapis said dryly.

“All right, Peridot it is!”

“Wait, what — ah!” Peridot yelped as Amethyst grabbed her and twirled her around in an exaggerated motion. Steven laughed as he watched, although his expression faded into something more thoughtful after a moment.

“Something wrong?” Garnet asked, looking down at him.

“No… yeah. Kind of?” He shrugged. “Do you think Pearl’s mad at me?”

“Why would she be mad?”

“Well, I know Rainbow Quartz was kind of special to Pearl and Mom… I don’t want her to think I was trying to take that away. I was just trying to get her out of her gem.”

Garnet knelt so they were eye to, phasing her visor away. “She’s disappointed that you didn’t both have a proper chance to agree on it, but that’s only because she wants you to have good experiences with these kinds of things. She’s not mad, though.”

“Are you sure?” Steven asked.

“Ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“I don’t know where she is, though.”

Garnet brought her visor down again, standing. “Pearl is very predictable. There aren’t many places she goes to hide.” And with that she turned away, calling, “Bismuth! Let’s show these amateurs how fusion really works.”

“Aw, yeah!” Bismuth grinned, pumping her arms. Steven looked at the sand, tilting his head. There aren’t many places she goes to hide…

“Oh!”

He took off to the house, sand kicking up around his sandal-clad feet.

The strawberry fields hadn’t changed much, at least not that Steven could see. The sweet scent of the fruit permeated the air, and he breathed deeply. He liked it, but he didn’t have any bad memories here, aside from almost falling to his death. He didn’t understand why Pearl came here when she wanted to get away. What was the point of torturing herself?

He started down the path, looking around just in case, but he already knew where Pearl was. He arrived at the edge of the cliff, looking up to the floating rock at the very end of the line and just barely making out a thin form sitting there. He jumped, floating easily from rock to rock, finally landing behind Pearl. She at least looked relaxed; she was leaning back, supporting herself on her hands, her knees drawn up loosely — a stark contrast to the last time they had been in these positions, and she had been curled up into the tightest possible ball.

“Pearl?”

She jumped slightly, looking over her shoulder. “Oh, Steven! I’m sorry, I thought you and Garnet would spend more time playing with Sunstone.”

“I was kind of excited for Rainbow Quartz.” Steven moved to sit next her, tucking his legs under himself. “Why do you come here?”

Pearl shrugged, looking back at out at the expanse before them. “It’s quiet.”

“Doesn’t it upset you?”

“Not as much as it used to.” Pearl looked around, eyes landing on a spot. “You see that tangle of strawberries, about fifty feet away?” Steven leaned around her, nodding. “That’s where Rose saved me and Garnet.”

“You still remember that?” Steven asked, impressed.

“I remember everything. Pearls are made to remember every single small detail. Remember when Blue said she draws during court trials?” Steven nodded. “That’s part of her function as a Diamond’s pearl. Yellow Pearl was always the note taker.”

“What did you do?”

Pearl laughed. “Do you think Pink Diamond was ever allowed to sit in on court proceedings?”

“No, but you didn’t always belong to her.” Pearl looked down at him, surprised by his surety in the statement. “I had a dream about Pink Diamond and White’s pearl, before White took her. You replaced her, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Pearl admitted reluctantly. “I did.”

“So did you always belong to her, or did you belong to someone else first?”

They both knew where he was going with this. Pearl smiled crookedly. “You’re too smart for your own good sometimes.” She rested a hand on his head, sighing. “I’m not ready to talk about that. Not yet.”

“But you’ll tell me when you are?” Steven confirmed.

“I will. I promise. And since I’m not answering this, you one free question. Anything you want aside from that.”

“Anything?” Steven asked. Pearl nodded, and he pursed his lips, trying to think. “When was the first time you and Mom fused? I mean really fused, not accidentally almost.”

Pearl tilted her head, surprised. “Really? That’s what you want to know?”

“You said anything.”

“I was expecting something about Pink Diamond or the war or…” She waved her hand, bewildered. “Something more exciting.”

“It fits the theme of the day.” Steven grinned. “Sooooooooo?”

Pearl looked back at the sky, a small, fond smile tugging at her lips. “The first time we fused… do you remember the lunar garden?”

Steven immediately perked up. “The place I took Connie to after she passed that really hard test? Yeah. You guys fused there?”

“I did say it was a night I’d never forget.” Pearl’s gem glowed for a moment, a projection unfolding. It was of herself and Rose, standing in the middle of the garden, Rose placing a flower crown on Pearl’s head. “It was still just the two of us on Earth, vandalizing the Kindergarten and attacking bismuths while they were building the towers and temples. The early days of the rebellion weren’t particularly exciting.” She laughed. “Anyways, Rose loved the place so much, and she was so happy. I was so happy. Rose and Pink Diamond… aren’t the same gem. Not to me, anyways. It took me a long time to create that separation in my mind, but that night, Pink Diamond was universes away.”  
The projection Rose and Pearl began dancing around the field, blissfully unaware of what the future held for them. Steven watched, fascinated, as Rose twirled Pearl, and they began to glow.

“We didn’t even know what we were doing.” Pearl laughed, watching her past self merge with Rose, and Rainbow Quartz stepped out of the light, looking down at herself in fascination. Steven stared at the past fusion, remembering what their fusion had been like.

“She’s so tall. And pretty.” He looked over at Pearl. “Do you… miss being her?”

“I did,” Pearl admitted. “I did for a very long time. I knew I would never get her back, and it hurt. I knew even if you could fuse, it wouldn’t be nearly the same.”  
Steven blinked, remembering their weirdly British goofball. “Definitely not the same.”

“Nope.” The projection popped, and Pearl leaned over to tug Steven into a side hug. “Ours is better.”

Steven laughed. “Really?”

“Absolutely. I’m sorry it happened the way it did, because you deserved a better experience, but it was a thrilling moment.”

Steven hugged her tight, then jumped up, offering her a hand. “I’m not against redoing it.”

Pearl met his eyes, and grinned, taking his hand.

* * *

 

“So do you think you can fuse?”

“I have no idea, I’ve never needed to try.” Peridot shrugged. “Era two gems were limited in a lot of ways era one gems weren’t.”

“All this era one and era two stuff is weird,” Amethyst said, flopping back to lie on the sand. “What’s the difference?”

“Era two was basically six-thousand years of Blue Diamond crying while Yellow Diamond did all the work.”

The warp pad on Obsidian’s hand lit up, and Bismuth looked back. “Looks like Steven found Pearl.”

Garnet smirked, adjusting her visor. “Sure did.”

“Helloooooooooooooooo!” Rainbow Quartz announced themself as they hopped off the hand, drifting down, umbrella out. “So sorry I’m late, what did I miss?”

“Wow,” Peridot said, staring up at the odd fusion. “I don’t think I’m missing out on much if I can’t fuse.”

“Well now, that’s just rude.” The fusion landed, folding the umbrella and resting it on their shoulder. “I’ll have you know I’m already a beloved gem.”

“Beloved by who?” Amethyst asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve existed for five minutes.”

“The only ones who matter, of course — Pearl and Steven.”

Amethyst raised her hands in defeat. “Got me there. So does that umbrella do anything or is it just for show?”

“Hm.” They looked at the umbrella, twirling it and frowning. “That’s a good question, actually, let’s see here…”

Bismuth leaned in to talk to Garnet while Rainbow Quartz was distracted. “I’m surprised. I didn’t think Pearl would roll so well with this.”

Garnet smiled. “She’s come a long way since the rebellion. And this is good for her. And for Steven.”

“Hey!” Greg called as he approached, and everyone except Rainbow looked back at him.

“Yo,” Amethyst called back. “‘Sup?”

“Steven and I were gonna go catch a movie but I guess fusion practice is still going on. Who’s—”

“Ah — whooooa!” Rainbow Quartz yelped as the umbrella suddenly shot out of their hands of its own free will, barreling across the beach — and right through the house door. “Well. That was certainly unexpected.”

“Way to go,” Lapis said, raising an eyebrow. Rainbow chuckled nervously.

“Ah, well, I suppose I should be going, don’t want to overstay my welcome. Also now that I think about it, this may be a tad awkward.” They tilted their head, thinking for a moment. “Pearl’s problem, tah!”

The fusion glowed, leaving Steven and Pearl staring at the house as the light faded. “So uh…” Steven rubbed the back of his head. “He needs a little fine tuning.”

“Possibly just a bit,” Pearl agreed. She dared to look at Greg out of the corner of her eye. He was, understandably, a little stunned.

“Sooooooooo you two can fuse now.”

“Yup.”

“And that was…”

“Rainbow Quartz two point oh.”

“Right. Got it.”

Steven looked back at his dad, remembering the video he’d shown Steven and Connie of Pearl and Rose fusing so many years ago. “Is it weird?” he asked uncertainly. Greg shook his head.

“Nah. I mean, yeah, but it’s gem weird, so it’s pretty much normal. Still wanna see that movie?”

“Yeah!” Steven grinned, running to Greg.

“Definitely different from you and Rose,” Bismuth commented as the Universe men walked away. Pearl smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“It is. But it’s a good different.”


End file.
